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hundred  and  fifteen  are  in  the  Training  Department.  All  students  apply- 
ing for  permission  to  attend  the  Normal  are  requested  to  sign  a  statement 
that  they  desire  to  fit  themselves  for  teaching,  and  also  bind  themselves 
to  teach  school  after  leaving  the  institution.  The  Preparatory  Department 
is  of  a  more  recent  creation.  There  were  many  students,  we  found,  who 
would  come  from  a  long  distance,  and  when  examined  for  admission 
would  fail  in  one  or  perhaps  two  branches,  or,  it  might  be,  would  not  be 
quite  sixteen  years  of  age.  These  are  now  received  in  the  Preparatory 
Department,  and,  as  the  law  directs,  are  charged  a  tuition  fee  of  $30 
a  year  until  they  are  admitted  regularly  into  the  Normal  proper.  The 
Training  Department,  consisting  of  three  grades,  is  where  the  students 
of  the  Senior  class  are  trained  to  teach.  Each  member  of  that  class  is 
required  to  teach  five  months  during  the  year,  and  this  is  as  much  a  part 
of  the  Normal  course  as  that  of  studying  and  reciting  lessons.  And  in 
granting  diplomas,  the  record  in  the  training  school  is  equally  as  impor- 
tant as  that  of  the  class-room.  In  many  cases  it  is  more  so ;  for  every 
year  we  are  compelled  to  deny  diplomas  to  two  or  three  members  of  the 
Senior  Class,  whose  scholastic  averages  are  excellent,  but  who  strand  in 
the  Training  School.  These  often  go  out  and  teach  one,  two,  or  three 
years,  then  return  and  satisfy  us  of  their  ability  to  properly  conduct  a 
school,  when  the  diploma  is  given.  The  five  hundred  and  forty-two  stu- 
dents are  divided  into  fifteen  classes,  the  number  of  each  class  varying 
from  thirty  to  forty-seven,  and  in  one  class  reaching  as  high  as  fifty-six. 
Once  a  week — usually  on  Saturday  afternoon — all  the  classes  are  given 
special  instructions  in  the  art  of  teaching.  Each  year  we  are  devoting 
more  and  more  attention  to  this  essential  branch  of  the  work." 
Respectfully  submitted. 

GESFORD,  Chairman. 


[Supplement  to  Assembly  Journal.'] 

CALIFORNIA   LEGISLATURE-ASS 

TWENTY-FIFTH  SESS1 


IN  ASSEMBLY. 

Assembly  Chamber,  •) 

Monday,  February  19,  1883.  j 

REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  EDUCATION. 

Sacramento,  February  15,  1883. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  The  Committee  on  Education  have  visited  the  State  University,  Deaf,  Dumb, 
and  Blind  Asylum,  and  San  Jose  State  Normal  School,  and  have  to  make  the  following  report 
on  the  same : 

UNIVERSITY. 

The  committee  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  three  days  they  were  absent — that  is,  two  days  at 
the  University — and  made  as  thorough  an  investigation  of  the  institution  as  this  limited  time 
would  permit. 

The  committee  find  that  the  University  is  undergoing  a  fair  degree  of  prosperity;  that  the 
faculty  appear  competent  and  industrious,  and  to  be  doing  all  in  their  power  to  advance  the 
material  prosperity  of  the  University;  that  the  under-graduates  are  making  good  progress  in 
their  various  studies,  and  that  the  general  discipline  of  the  institution  is  good. 

Where  so  many  are  doing  excellent  work,  your  committee  do  not  think  it  invidious  to  call 
attention  especially  to  the  work  done  in  some  of  the  departments. 

Professor  Hilgard,  in  addition  to  the  many  requirements  imposed  upon  him  as  a  teacher  of 
the  various  classes  under  his  charge,  has  been  doing  much  outside  work,  very  beneficial  to  the 
State.     He  has  made  a  map  showing  the  general  character  of  the  soil  throughout  the  E 
which  will  be  of  great  value  to  the  farming  industry.     The  map  shows  both  the  chemical  and 
mechanical  composition  of  the  soils  of  the  State,  and  their  distribution.     The  Professor  h-i- 
also  spent  a  large  portion  of  his  time  in  answering  inquiries  and  investigating  questions  of 
practical  importance  to  the  State's  agricultural  interests.     He  has  shown,  by  investigation,  th;. 
the  waters  of  Tulare  and  Kern  Lakes  are  too  strongly  impregnated  with  alkali  to  be  appMe 
with  safety  in   irrigation.     This  alone  saved  to  proposed  investors  thousands  of  dollars,  and 
preserved  from  ruin  thousands  of  acres,  thus  saving  to  the  State  many  times  the  cost  of  the 
whole  agricultural  department  of  the  State  University.     He  is  ably  assisted  in  this  work  by 
Professor  S.  H.  Dwinelle. 

The  committee  also  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  sums  set  apart  by  the  Board  of 
Regents  for  the  Agricultural  Department  of  the  University  seem  utterly  inadequate  to  its 
demands,  and  not  in  conformity  with  the  Act  of  Congress  bestowing  an  endowment  upon  the 
institution,  to  be  used  especially  in  the  advancement  of  industrial  education,  and  naming  agri- 
culture especially  as  a  branch  to  be  nourished.  It  appears  that  an  annual  appropriation  of  but 
three  thousand  dollars  or  four  thousand  dollars  is  not  doing  justice  to  the  provisions  of  the  Act, 
and  that  the  College  of  Agriculture  is  decidedly  crippled,  both  in  equipment  and  faculty.  The 
large  horticultural  and  grain  interests  of  the  State  demand  that  a  chair  of  entomology  be  at  once 
established,  and  that  instruction  be  given,  thorough  and  complete,  in  all  that  pertains  to 
insects  beneficial  and  injurious  to  vegetation. 

The  large  stock  interests  of  the   State  are  demanding  thorough  instruction  in  the  disease 
incident   to   domestic  animals.     The  scab  in  sheep  alone  is  annually  costing  the  State  more 
than  the  whole  cost  of  the  State  University ;  and  the  diseases  among  cattle,  horses,  and  hogs 
are  only  adding  to  the  cost.     A  professor  of  veterinary  medicine  and  surgery  would  very  soon 


pay  the  cost  of  his  salary  in  the  instruction  which  he  would  give,  and  the  beneficial  effect  that 
would  follow  even  an  ordinary  acquaintance,  spread  throughout  the  State,  with  the  various 
diseases  that  affect  our  domestic  animals.  "With  Professor  Hilgard  and  Professor  Dwinelle 
occupying  the  positions  they  now  hold,  and  the  chairs  of  entomology  and  veterinary  medicine 
well  filled,  the  College  of  Agriculture  of  the  University  could  be  more  than  a  college  in  name, 
and,  in  the  opinion  of  this  committee,  the  number  attendant  upon  its  sessions  could  be  largely 
increased. 

THE    PHYSICAL   LABORATORY. 

While  the  chemical  laboratory  of  the  University  has  been  for  some  years  one  of  the  best 
features  of  the  institution,  comparing  favorably  in  this  regard  with  the  "oldest  colleges  of  the 
Union,  the  physical  laboratory  has  been  entirety  neglected.  The  ordinary  physical  apparatus 
for  class-room  experiments  is  of  no  use  to  the  student  in  original  investigation,  and  is  merely 
an  adjunct  to  instruction.  The  aim  of  all  education  should  be  to  encourage  research  on  the 
part  of  the  student,  and  to  that  end  to  furnish  him  with  the  instruments  to  practically  verify 
his  theoretical  conclusions.  There  is  no  more  important  field  for  work  of  this  character  than 
the  physical  science.  The  practical  benefits  resulting  from  improvements  in  all  that  relates  to 
the  measurement  of  time  and  space,  to  the  determination  of  the  strength  of  materials  used  in 
ordinary  structures,  to  the  calculation  of  the  velocity  and  trajectory  of  missiles,  to  the  force  of 
impact  of  moving  bodies,  would  far  more  than  compensate  the  State  for  the  small  outlay 
necessary  to  furnish  a  laboratory  with  adequate  instruments. 

The  appropriation  of  five  thousand  dollars  asked  for  is  no  more  than  sufficient  to  purchase 
apparatus  absolutely  necessary  to  the  efficiency  of  the  physical  department  of  the  University. 
This  money  should  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  Professor  John  Le  Conte,  who  has  an 
enviable  reputation  in  scientific  circles  for  original  investigations  in  the  domain  of  physics.  He 
is  one  of  the  few  American  scientists  whose  labors  are  not  unappreciated  in  Europe. 

AGRICULTURAL,   MINING,    AND    ARTS    COLLEGE. 

Your  Committee  on  Education  visited  the  Mechanical  and  Mining  Arts  College,  and  have 
the  honor  to  report  on  the  Mining  School  and  the  appliances  and  mechanical  means  therefor 
as  follows  : 

Professor  S.  B.  Christie  is  at  the  head  of  the  Mining  School  Department  of  the  Mechanical 
and  Mining  Arts  College;  and,  we  believe,  no  department  of  the  University  affords  greater 
evidence  of  important  and  practical  work. 

The  rnetalurgical  laboratories  afford  most  excellent  facilities  for  making  assays  of  all  classes 
of  ore-  We  visited  the  crushing  and  sampling  room,  where  we   found  iron  mortars 

and  rubbers  for  pulverizing  ores  for  assay  and  analysis.  In  the  furnace  room  we  found  iron- 
clad crucibles  and  furnaces  built  in  the  wall,  and  muffle  furnaces  constructed  in  like  manner, 
and  supplied  with  necessary  tools  and  work  benches.  We  also  observed,  in  addition  to  the 
permanent  furnaces,  a  full  assortment  of  movable  clay  muffles,  tube  crucible  furnaces. 

The  weighing  room  had  the  proper  appliances  of  ore  scales;  also  wood  and  sand  bath  for 
parting  gold  and  silver.  There  were  also  found  separate  balance  rooms  for  the  fire  assay, 
balances  and  yellow  glass  windows  for  the  burned  or  mint  assa3's  of  silver  bullion,-  also,  rooms 
for  volumetric  or  bullion  assays.  These  advantages  and  the  rnetalurgical  models  and  drawings 
afford  great  facilities  for  even  original  investigations,  and  we  believe  are  eminently  adapted  to 
the  thorough  instruction  of  students  and  making  experiments  of  general  benefit  and  great 
importance  to  the  mining  interests  of  the  State. 

We  believe,  also,  as  has  been  anticipated,  that  important  problems  relating  to  hydraulic  and 
mining  machinery,  and  the  economical  methods  of  treating  our  so  called  rebellious  ores,  may 
be  the  legitimate  functions  of  this  mining  department  of  the  Mechanical  and  Mining  Arts  Col- 
lege. And  with  the  model  stamp  mill  and  dressing  works,  for  which  an  appropriation  is  asked, 
it  can  complete  a  thorough  course  for  the  assay,  determination,  and  reduction  of  ores  from  our 
unnumbered  quartz  mines  of  the  Slate,  so  that  practical  reports  can  be  made  which  will  be  of 
very  great  importance  to  our  mining  ink 

APPROPRIATION    ASKED    FOR   THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    MINES. 

For  model  stamp  mill  and  dressing  works $6,000 

For  other  apparatus  and  chemicals 2,000 

Total. _ $8,000 

And  the  committee  hereby  recommend  that  such  appropriation  be  made. 


SAN  JOSK   NORMAL  SCHOOL. 

The  committee  can  only  report  favorably  on  the  little  they  were  able  to  see  of  the  working  of 
the  Normal  School  at  San  Jose  during  the  very  limited  period  of  their  visit,  and  they  think 
time  would  be  well  spent  were  some  of  their  body  to  pay  a  more  extended  visit  either  to  that 
institution  or  the  newer  institution  at  Los  Angeles. 

While  the  committee  report  favorably  on  what  they  saw  generally  at  the  San  Jose  Normal 
School,  they  feel  it  their  duty  to  call  public  attention  to  defects  in  our  public  school  system, 
which  might  be  corrected  in  a  measure  through  sound  normal  teaching  and  training.  In' many 
cases  the  pupils  who  graduate  from  grammar  schools  are  almost  wholly  unprepared  for  the 
business  of  life;  their  powers  of  observation  and  of  reason  have  not  been  cultivated,  and  what 
of  these  powers  they  possess  have  been  acquired  in  spite  of  school  training.  The  pupils  learn 
nothing  of  things  by  observation,  and  their  power  of  reasoning  is  wholly  undeveloped.  In 
marked  contrast  to  the  custom  of  our  schools  is  the  method  employed  in  the  German  Vorschule 
or  primary  school .  As  in  the  Birkbech  schools,  children  of  nine  and  ten  years  of  age  are  active' 
and  intelligent  collectors  and  classifiers  of  plants,  animals  (generally  of  insects  or  birds  only), 
and  of  minerals;  while  in  the  common  rudiments  of  learning  their  progress  far  outruns  that  of 
the  pupils  of  our  schools.  An  admirable  feature  of  the  German  schools  which  has  largely 
tended  to  produce  this  result  might  be  readily  adapted  to  our  system. 

Once  a  week,  at  least,  each  teacher  takes  his  class,  either  into  the  country  to  collect  plants, 
insects,  or  minerals,  to  observe,  examine,  and  classify  them,  or  to  some  factory  or  other  indus- 
trial establishment. 

The  committee  also  deem  it  necessary  to  call  attention  to  the  disadvantages  as  well  as  the 
advantages  of  the  graded  system,  as  now  carried  on  in  our  public  schools. 

While  not  overlooking  the  fact  that  much  good  is  accomplished  by  classification,  when  not 
carried  to  an  extreme,  they  feel  compelled  to  say  that  the  graded  system  of  this  State  has  been 
carried  beyond  the  limits  of  usefulness. 

The  brightest  as  well  as  the  dullest  of  pupils  are  classified  together,  and  this  produces  the 
evil  result  of  retarding  the  progress  of  the  former,  and  pushing  the  latter  beyond  his  capacity. 
The  promotion  of  one.  therefore,  is  dependent  upon  the  progress  of  the  other.  The  one  is  dis- 
couraged because  his  progress  is  retarded  by  the  dullness  of  the  other,  and  his  less  brilliant 
classmate  is  compelled  to  accept  advancement  before  he  is  prepared. 

Whatever  may  be  the  advantages  of  graded  schools,  they  seem  to  be  mostly  thrown  away 
under  our  system,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  comparison  of  their  results  with  that  of  an 
ungraded  school  on  Harrison  street",  San  Francisco,  near  Eleventh. 

In  that  ungraded  school  of  about  forty -four  boys,  who  are  either  too  poor  to  attend  the  public 
schools,  or  too  unruly  to  be  there  disciplined,  or  from  some  other  cause  have  been  kept  out  of 
school,  and  who  were  (till  they  went  to  this  school)  generally  looked  upon  as  "hard  eases" — boys 
from  eleven  to  fourteen  perform  exercises  with  dispatch  and  accuracy  in  the  extraction  of  cube 
root,  mensuration,  and  combination;  one  of  them  can  write  almost  equal  to  copper  plate 
engraving;  five  or  six  are  following  closely  in  his  footsteps,  and  boys  of  seven  to  eight  years 
can  read  in  the  fifth  reader.  Your  committee  have  yet  to  see  the  graduate  of  the  graded 
schools  who  at  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age  can  equal  these  boys  of  eleven  to  fourteen. 

DEAF,    DUMB,    AND    BLIND    ASYLUM. 

The  committee  in  their  visit  to  the  Deaf,  Dumb,  and  Blind  Asylum  were  given  an  oppor- 
tunity to  observe  as  to  the  instruction  of  the  unfortunate  children  of  our  State  who  are  inmates 
of  this  verv  worthy  institution.  The  committee  cannot  bestow  too  much  praise  to  the  man- 
agers and  teachers  in  charge.  We  would  recommend  that  the  appropriations  asked  for  the 
support  of  this  institution  be  allowed  in  full,  and  also  that  a  sufficient  amount  be  appropriated 
to  establish  a  mechanical  school  in  connection  therewith. 

The  committee  also  find  that  the  subordinate  instructors  and  tutors  are  under  paid.  The  com- 
mittee think  that  these  teachers  should  at  least  receive  as  much  compensation  for  their  services 
as  is  paid  to  teachers  of  public  schools  throughout  the  State. 

STORKE,  Chairman. 


CDaai7^D3fl 


5334-.'. 


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